The dreams of Bumblestripe and Tigerheart
by infinitestormtales
Summary: When Dovewing gives birth to Foxleap's kits, Bumblestripe and Tigerheart slightly overreact and things spin out of even StarClan's control
1. Prolouge

Bumblestripe and Tigerheart

By Kate

Prologue

The ginger cat padded wearily through the camp entrance, wishing he could just lay down his head right where he was and drift off into uninterrupted sleep. He had had many sleepless nights worrying about his mate, Dovewing. He knew Leafpool and Jayfeather would safely deliver her kits, and that there was no point in worrying so much, but he still did, as he cared so much for Dovewing. He moved towards the fresh kill pile with his two mice when his litter mate Icecloud raced up to him, "Foxleap!" she mewed breathlessly, "Your kits have been born!" Foxleap stood stock still for a moment in the middle of camp, his mind racing with a million different thoughts, until Brambleclaw-the leader of the hunting patrol- trotted over to him, "I'll take these," he mewed, faint amusement scattered on his face, and took the mice to the pile. Foxleap jolted into action and charged like an excited kit to the nursery, to see his children.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Bumblestripe squeezed his way through the thorn barrier with his squirrel and thrush after going hunting by himself. He had had enough of endless streams of cats speculating, when will Dovewing have her kits, I wonder how many there'll be, Dovewing this, kits that. He was sick and tired of it and it seemed like it would never stop. Sure enough, before he was a fox-length into camp Thornclaw hurried over "Dovewing-"

"I don't care, OK!" Bumblestripe snapped and stormed towards the fresh-kill pile. "Who put thorns in _his_ nest" Ambermoon muttered, listening from behind Thornclaw. Bumblestripe quickened his pace, all he wanted to do was put down his fresh kill and sleep, the only way to escape everyday life, although many a dream was haunted by Dovewing, at least he had a chance of peace. In the waking world there was no way he could stop thinking about her. On his way over he was intercepted by Blossomfall, "I don't know why you're being so grumpy these days," she sighed

"Well you would know what it's like to be ignored by someone you love," he mewed "That's why you joined the Dark Forest, right?" Pure sadness suddenly flared in Blossomfall's eyes, "I know some cats still don't trust me but I thought I could at least depend on my own brother," she mewed, and trailed her tail as she padded towards the nursery. Moons ago Bumblestripe would have felt bad about upsetting his sister, but now all he felt was anger, that was all he felt these days. He settled himself by the fresh kill pile and watched the clan go on. Every one of these cats used to have a special place in his heart, but now that place was simply cold and dark. Every one of them seemed to have forgotten he and Dovewing had been mates, they mentioned her without a seeming second though, could they not be sensitive? Suddenly he heard Jayfeather mew "I just thought you should know that Dovewing's kits have been born," he paused a moment, before adding, "They don't keep mentioning Dovewing because they forgot you were her mate, they mention it because they don't want to act like they're trying to be careful about it,"

"Stop prying into my mind!" Bumblestripe mewed crossly.

"I lost my powers, remember, it's plain to see on your face how upset you are, but just remember this, if you dwell to long on the past, it could consume the present, and the cats around you now could end up meaning nothing,". Hearing it out loud, Bumblestripe knew that that was what was happening to him, but he couldn't help but think about how great life had been when Dovewing had loved him back.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Tigerheart sighed as he heard his name called out on the Gathering list, he would normally be happy to go to a Gathering, but lately his sleep had been troubled by strange dreams full of only darkness. Although he might just be imagining it, he couldn't shake the feeling that he would do something awful that would change the clans forever. Additionally, Tigerheart hated the journey to the Gathering, because he seemed to always get his paws wet, whether it was Dawnpelt pushing him playfully, or a cat barging to the front, or even just Tigerheart being clumsy on his paws. It seemed to Tigerheart that it happened every time, and today was no different. When the Gathering patrol reached the lakeshore, a sharp stick poking from the pebbles drove its way deep into Tigerheart's paw, causing him to stagger wildly a fox-length into the water. Hearing an amused snort from Tawnypelt (his own mother!) he whipped round his head ferociously "Sorry Tigerheart," she amended, "but to be fair, it was pretty funny," seeing he still looked miffed, she continued "Even us senior warriors can laugh and have fun you know" she smiled, before quickening her pace to walk beside Rowanstar.

A little while later, Tigerheart was standing in the queue to board the tree bridge, wondering what would happen tonight, if anything of significance _did_ happen, when he was jerked back to reality by Dawnpelt's mew "Tigerheart!" she had already reached the island, and Tigerheart was holding up a long line of Shadowclan cats. He scrambled to the island, skidding across the tree bridge, and landed in a panting heap at the edge of the clearing. He looked up to see Bumblestripe of Thunderclan staring down at him with a wry smile on his face. "You look like you could use a bit of help," he laughed, but Tigerheart just snorted in annoyance and stalked away. It wasn't long before silence fell over the clearing, Bramblestar's clear voice ringing out, "I am pleased to announce we have had new arrivals in the nursery this moon," Tigerheart detected a hint of smugness in his voice, the Thunderclan show-off. "Dovewing has given birth to three healthy kits, Shimmerkit, Patchkit and Rainkit," Tigerheart felt a stab of jealousy as he glanced at Foxleap, the father. As he turned away, he caught the eye of Bumblestripe, and despite the fact that they were 'rivals in love', he felt a gush of sympathy for the grey tom, as he knew exactly what Bumblestripe felt: excruciating pain as you watched the one cat you loved the most turn further away from you at every paw step.

The rest of the Gathering passed as normal, and by the time the cats once again began to mingle and share news, Tigerheart had forgotten all that had been said, except the said, except the first of Thunderclan's announcements, and that moment when his eyes had met with Bumblestripe's, for Tigerheart had seen his exact thoughts reflected in his eyes, as if they were the same cat in different bodies. He shouldered his way through the crowd of cats, ignoring the protests of the cats he had jostled, completely intent on finding Bumblestripe. Finally he reached the cat he was looking for, and called out him as he began to move towards the tree bridge ahead of the rest of his clan. He didn't look in the mood for talking, but Tigerheart wasn't going to let this go.

"What do you want?" Bumblestripe asked curtly.

"I need to talk to you,"

"I gathered that,"

"Not here, there's a hidden hollow just off clan territory, meet me there tomorrow night,"

"And why exactly should I come, what's in it for me?"

"You will come, because in return, I will tell you something about Dovewing only one other cat knows"

Bumblestripe's eyes narrowed, "What time?"

"Moonhigh,"

"I'll be there,"

Tigerheart didn't know why he trusted Bumblestripe to keep his secret, but he had a strange sense of companionship with the Thunderclan cat. Something had stirred inside Tigerheart during their conversation, and he suspected it had something to do with the dreams. But one thing Tigerheart knew for sure was that it definitely wasn't good.

Tigerheart slipped into line behind Dawnpelt, who was waiting impatiently to cross the tree bridge, "Hi," he mewed. Dawnpelt looked around cheerily "Hey Daydream!" she chirped, "Have a good time?"

"Yeah, great," he replied.

"You're a terrible liar, you know that, right?" Dawnpelt meowed. Tigerheart sighed, the problem with littermates was that they knew you inside out. Most littermates would confide everything to each other, but Tigerheart knew he could never tell Dawnpelt about his situation with Dovewing, however close they were.

"Look, if you don't want to tell me that's fine, but I'm your sister, and no matter what I will stand by you," she mewed, before padding forward to navigate the irregular knots and branches of the tree bridge, careful not repeat the mistake of a RiverClan apprentice who had slipped in earlier this evening. Not long after, Tigerheart was stepping into the ShadowClan camp, pushing through the throng of cats into the warriors den. Just before he managed to slip in unnoticed, Rowanstar meowed from behind him, "Tigerheart, are you feeling alright, you've been looking constantly tired for a long time now, and at todays Gathering you seemed even more upset," Tigerheart looked up at him, he felt a strong urge to spill out all his worries, for Rowanstar was not just the clan leader, he was Tigerheart's father as well. But Tigerheart knew that no-one could ever know of his secret heartache, except Bumblestripe, who would know soon enough, and as he drifted off to sleep that night, Tigerheart found himself wishing that he had never been picked to go and find the beavers, because he knew that there was no way to heal his heart that had been smashed to pieces by Dovewing.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Right, Thornclaw, you can lead a patrol to the ShadowClan border," Squirrelflight mewed.

"Who should I take?"

"You pick," Bumblestripe was vaguely aware of Thornclaw speaking, but he wasn't really listening: he needed to think about whether he would go to meet Tigerheart tonight. He had told him that he would come, but he didn't feel like he had keep his word to ShadowClan cat, after all, they never kept their word, the backstabbing thieves, but Tigerheart seemed different. There was something in Tigerheart that made Bumblestripe feel bound to him, it was a faint, vague feeling, but he knew he had to follow it. "Wake up dopey! You're on patrol with Thornclaw!" Bumblestripe jumped, turning round to find Briarlight smiling at him, "Honestly Bumblestripe, you never seem to be fully awake nowadays," she mewed with gritted teeth as she dragged herself over to the fresh kill pile. Bumblestripe huffed at her, even though he knew what she said was true. It wasn't his fault though, it was because of the dreams. They came most nights, and all they did was fill Bumblestripe with foreboding, as if something connected to him would happen, bringing grief to everyone around him. Bumblestripe was beyond the point of caring, every day he sank deeper into the misery. He had thought he could get over her, and he had started to, but the kits had opened wounds he hadn't even known were there. The odd thing was, he thought as he padded out of the thorn barrier behind Cherryfall, that the grief he felt seemed to be more than what he felt about Dovewing, it was like there was something else causing him this terrible sadness and he couldn't quite place what.

Not long later Bumblestripe was padding alongside his patrol by the border, when he spotted a lone ShadowClan warrior stalking a mouse a little way along the border. A few moments later he pounced on the rodent. And landed on ThunderClan territory. "Get off!" Thornclaw hissed, and as Bumblestripe caught up with him, he realized the trespasser was Tigerheart. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I thought I would land on my own territory," He apologized, hurriedly scrambling back to ShadowClan. "Give us the mouse, its ThunderClan property!" Thornclaw snarled

"I caught it!"

"On ThunderClan territory!"

Tigerheart was opening his mouth to retort, but Bumblestripe interrupted, "Look, do we need to bother with a mouse that most likely stinks of ShadowClan when its the middle of greenleaf? There's no point," Thornclaw narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but snapped to Tigerheart, "Go! And take your stupid mouse," He turned to the other members of the patrol and mewed, "We've almost patrolled the whole border, we should head back to camp and tell Bramblestar about this," The rest of the cats followed him quickly, but Bumblestripe lingered a moment, and called across the border to Tigerheart, who looked back, nodded, and turned to head back to his camp. Bumblestripe hurried to catch up with his patrol with a sense darkness increasing with every paw step.

Just before moonhigh, Bumblestripe slipped out of the den, careful not to tread on any tails. As he passed Cloudtail he heard the white warrior moan in his sleep, but he did nothing more, so Bumblestripe padded softly outside. "Oh, hi Bumblestripe, are you okay?" Cinderheart mewed from across the camp. Bumblestripe winced, he had been hoping he could slip away unnoticed through the dirtplace tunnel, but he put on a forced smile and said, "I just felt like a hunt, I got a lot on my mind," he mewed, and with a sympathetic glance, Cinderheart moved to let him out of camp. As he raced through the forest he realized that what he told Cinderheart wasn't entirely false, he did need to clear his mind, and racing through the forest at night gave him a wonderful feeling. That is until he remembered a similar race through the forest with Dovewing, and it just hurt to much, so he slowed his pace, hoping Tigerheart had been telling the truth and that there wasn't a whole patrol of ShadowClan warriors waiting to ambush him. He felt a rush of excitement as he left clan territory, but just a few paw steps onwards his thoughts were interrupted by Tigerheart mewing, I see that you came, I was starting to wonder if you had changed your mind,"

"ThunderClan cats keep their word," Bumblestripe replied curtly, full of apprehension.

"Well then," Tigerheart mewed, "We have something to discuss,"


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Bumblestripe hurriedly padded back to camp, though it was still the middle of the night, he didn't want Cinderheart to get suspicious. Careful to catch a vole before he entered the camp, he left it on the pile, then hurried back to his den, with just a friendly nod to Cinderheart.

As he tried to drift off to sleep, the memories of his conversation with Tigerheart churned through his mind, the absurd request Tigerheart had made of him repeating itself again and again in his mind. It was stupid! It had seemed to make sense to Tigerheart, but, to work together to separate Dovewing and Foxleap... It was stupid. Sure, Tigerheart could try if he wished, but who would get him in the end? Tigerheart had said they'd make it fair, but the vile Shadowclan cat would obviously keep her for himself, his plan was stupid and transparent. Bumblestripe had resigned himself to trying to accept the way things were, and move on. With this thought in his mind, he finally fell into a deep sleep, and it was the first thing in his mind as he awoke to Cloudtail calling, "Wake up Bumblestripe!"

"What? Am I on dawn patrol again?"

"No! Dawn patrol left ages ago, you'll have to wait for Thornclaw's hunting patrol to get back if you want to eat,"

Cursing himself, Bumblestripe scrambled into the clearing, his fur sticking out oddly in all directions, provoking an amused snort from Blossomfall. Bumblestripe glared at her, but he tried to be friendly about it, as although he had apologized for what he had said, he knew she was still annoyed, and she had every right to be. Bumblestripe had known he shouldn't have taken it out on her, but he had been, and still was, feeling lower than he ever had before. He was trying to control himself though, he was scared to death that if he stayed this mad for much longer, he might become like Ashfur, and he couldn't let that happen. Ashfur had been an honorable cat in his time, but he hadn't gone out with honor in the end, and what Bumblestripe wanted more than anything, even more than Dovewing's love, was to be remembered as an amazing cat, and if he got too mad, and did something awful, he could be a warning. To look down on the cats you love and hear them tell nursery stories about his mistakes, would be his worst nightmare.

Tigerheart had a plan. It wasn't a very watertight plan, nor was it very detailed, but it was still in development. He knew it many cats would despise his doings, but he reasoned that if they had struggled through what he had, they would understand. He figured if he managed to kill Foxleap undetected, and then became Dovewings main sympathizer (He was going to figure out how to do that bit later), she might fall in love with him once more. It was a long shot, by that meaning a five trillion miles shot, but at least Foxleap would be out of the way. Even if he got exiled, the pain would be lessened, and he wouldn't have to seem them happy together every moon, possibly having more kits, it would be easier that way.

That night, after returning from an evening border patrol, Tigerheart tried to figure out the smaller details of his plan. He already knew how he would slaughter Foxleap -Tigerheart liked to think of it as a sacrifice, a sacrifice for his own happiness- but he wasn't sure of how he could convince Dovewing to love him, after all they were in different clans, so they would only see each other at Gatherings, beside, she might not attend one for a while, if she was consumed by grief. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, he knew it was a terrible thing to do, but he had kind of sunk to an unescapable depth of terrible when he decided to kill a cat. At the moment, there was a minor outbreak of whitecough in camp, but Spikepaw had a bad case, and it was likely to develop into greencough, and even if it didn't, Tigerheart could still destroy his clans supplies of catmint, and make sure Littlecloud could not gather any more. All the clans knew that Thunderclan was the kindest clan, keen to keep 'the four clans all intact' so they were likely to give them catmint if they asked. Whichever medicine cat went to ask would need to take a warrior with them, and it wasn't a job many were keen to do, so if Tigerheart volunteered, then Rowanstar was likely to agree. Having figured this out, Tigerheart settled down into his warm mossy nest, and fell asleep with the satisfactory though that this time tomorrow, he would be killing the cat he despised more than anyone in the world, his lover's one true love, his motivation for this whole task. Foxleap.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Tigerheart crept carefully down the rocky ledge that led down a wall of the Thunderclan hollow, he had only known about it from his Dark Forest days, which he supposed made him lucky to have been there, but _only_ for that reason, and that reason alone. Never ever would he be happy about being in the Dark Forest for anything more than that. As he finally reached the bottom, he glance cautiously round the camp, searching for the guard. Most of his plan relied on luck, and this was a crucial part, but it seemed luck was even more on his side than he needed it to be: Foxleap was on guard! A wave of relief swept over Tigerheart, he really hadn't wanted to go through with his plan that he would've had to resort to in any other circumstance, it would have worked, but it really wasn't ideal. He stealthily edged towards Foxleap, careful not tread on any twigs of leaves that scattered the clearing. It was as he was just about to lunge for the killing blow that things started to go wrong, really wrong.

"Rainkit, come back here! Its the middle of the night, you're going to wake up the whole clan!"

"But I want to go play!" A little storm-cloud grey kit scampered from the nursery, a cheeky grin lighting up his face. Dovewing was about to hiss something to him, but the words came out as a cry of surprise as she saw Tigerheart trying to edge his way to press himself against a wall. Foxleap whipped his head around and Tigerheart realized that if he wanted to do it, he had to do it now and be done with it. Dovewing could never love him back after this, but the pain would be lessened, the pain would be lessened. Tigerheart kept repeating that in his head as he forced him self to leap forward, and do the deed.

Bumblestripe shook the grogginess from his head, and forced his heavy paws to carry him into the clearing, towards whoever it was that had cried out in distress. He stepped into the clearing at the exact moment Tigerheart leaped for Foxleap's neck, Dovewing standing by, frozen with shock, Rainkit beside her, wailing with distress. Foxleap rolled away to dodge the blow, but he landed on his belly and Tigerheart leaped on top of him to rip it apart in a frenzy of rage. Suddenly Bumblestripe realized he had been subconsciously moving towards the scene, and now he stood just a tail length away from the group, all fixated by the ongoing drama. In the spur of the moment, Bumblestripe bounded in front of Tigerheart, pushing Foxleap away from the Shadowclan cat's extended claws, only to feel them sinking into his flesh a moment later, and rip along his body. The edges of his vision began to blur into darkness, and it wasn't long before he descended into blackness, a sole relief from the pain that tore through his body, the only thing he could focus on, nothing else mattered but this pain.

Bramblestar watched in shock as Bumblestripe's body sunk limply to the ground. He had heard yowls of rage and pain from the clearing, so had come to investigate. He hadn't expected to find this, though, this was so much worse than anything he could imagine. He started towards them, only to once more freeze, absolutely still as Dovewing's rigid body loosened with a single ear-splitting screech of rage, her teeth aiming for Tigerheart's leg. That was one of the worst things about it, she had meant to harm him, not kill him, but kill him she did. Tigerheart rolled away from her, but he wasn't quite quick enough, so he left his head just where his leg had been a moment before, but there was no way for Dovewing to get out of her move now, and her teeth grazed deep into Tigerhearts neck, leaving him unmoving on the ground. Dovewing gasped, recoiling in horrer at what she had done. Rainkits wails became even louder and even more fearful, and soon the whole clan stood around the shocking scene, Blossomfall, Graystripe and Millie with their heads hung low, not moving a muscle, and Briarlight dragging herself towards her brother's dead body, even slower than usual, Jayfeather walking beside her, looking extremely worried for her welfare. Grief hung over the camp like a an unending storm, and it was up to Bramblestar to bring the sunshine. It was not going to be easy.

 **I am sorry for any details that don't match with the Warriors storyline, I do know of a few, but I have chosen to put them in, e.g. Foxleap being alive.**


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

Ivypool stared blankly as Sandstorm and Purdy gently lifted up Bumblestripe's stiff, cold body, trying to stop it swinging madly between them. Graystripe trailed behind them, too hung down with grief to do anything but follow along, Millie and Blossomfall just behind him. Ivypool gaze rested on Briarlight, who was rapidly dragging herself after them.

"Briarlight! I really don't think you should be leaving camp right now, it-" Jafeather abruptly stopped his protest as Briarlight swung her head round and fixed her fiery piercing gaze upon him.

"MY BROTHER HAS JUST DIED, CAN'T I AT LEAST SEE HIS BURIEL PLACE!" She shrieked, forcing the entire camp into silence. Her voice was so despairing, so distraught, it was impossible to ignore, Ivypool was sure they could hear it across the lake in Riverclan. Jayfeather gave a small sigh, not replying to Briarlight, but everyone could see that he wasn't going to argue with her when she was like this. No one would. Jayfeather simply attached himself to the procession, and Briarlight followed. Ivypool suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of emotion, not just for Bumblestripe and Tigerheart, but for everyone in the camp. There had been so many deaths before, Ivypool wouldn't have expected it to be this bad, but the way that they had died, was just so heart wrenching, that Ivypool couldn't bear it, and she turned her back at slipped inconspicuously into the warriors den. No one in Thunderclan blamed Dovewing for Tigerheart's death, but Shadowclan probably would, no one really understood the circumstances except Ivypool, as no one but Ivypool had known about Dovewing and Tigerheart's secret meetings. It would probably take some work on Bramblestar's part, but Ivypool was certain that Dovewing would live on without punishment. It would take some time, probably quite a lot of time, but everything would go back to normal.


End file.
